Non-stick pans are the laid-back dinner party guests of the kitchen tool world. They may not wow with witty banter and interesting anecdotes, but they sure will show up on time and won’t make a mess. Non-stick pans are what I learned to cook on, and have a special place in my heart — who wants to season a hefty cast iron after every meal? Not I.
Despite my affection for the stovetop sizzlers, I’ve shifted away from using them, largely due to the fact that their coatings can be toxic if ingested. So, naturally, I jumped at the chance to be one of the first to try out Kilne’s new Everything Pan — a ceramic, non-toxic, non-stick that’s made in Italy.
Kilne Everything Pan: First impressions
The Kilne Everything Pan I receive is gorgeous, a stark contrast to some of my other crusty kitchen tools. It’s lathered in a luscious cream colour with a gray cooking surface. It's also light as a feather, which is incredibly welcome for everyday use (I always feel like I’ve done a few reps at the gym every time I cook with my cast iron).
Kilne Everything Pan: Cooking
I immediately want to put the pan to the test with a tried-and-true fried tofu dinner recipe that I’ve been making for years. Fried tofu is not the healthiest dish on the planet, but it’s certainly not made any better by the copious amounts of cooking oil I usually have to use to get a nice golden-brown fry.
Time to find out if this pan is the real deal. I slap the Everything Pan down on the stove, completely sans-oil (usually a cardinal sin that results in layers of crispy residue that need to be scraped off a regular pan), and crank the burner to high. The Everything Pan heats up quickly and evenly, and the tofu starts sizzling as soon as it hits the cooking surface.
To my wonder and delight, the pale cubes (coated in starch as per the recipe) slide around the pan with ease. Watching the little blocks tumble from side to side, I'm reminded of lugers at the Olympics. After a few minutes I take them off the heat, and voilà — I'm thrilled to find I've achieved that exact same golden-brown, crispy consistency I'm used to, with zero (!) oil used.
I'm blown away by how effective the non-stick surface is. It's definitely the real deal.
Kilne Everything Pan: What else?
The incredible non-stick functionality of the Everything Pan is awesome, but my favourite part about it is how evenly it holds its heat. Rice pilafs come out with each grain cooked evenly (a difficult task with some of the other pans and pots in my kitchen). Sauces simmer on all parts of the pan. Most notably, eggs cooked with no oil (or, in my case, vegan egg replacements) slide right off the pan.
It's oven-safe, scratch-resistant and extremely easy to clean (though you'll probably still need to hand-wash it to protect the non-stick coating).
From the stylish design to its incredible functionality, the Everything Pan is a well-rounded kitchen tool that will save you time and reduce the amount of oil you use in your cooking. I highly recommend giving it a try.
$140; kilne.com
